Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Soneela Nankani is an award-winning audiobook narrator with over 200 titles to date. She has garnered 7 Earphone awards, an Audie nomination and a SOVAS nomination. Her audiobooks have been included in Best Audiobooks lists by AudioFile Magazine (2016, 2019) and The Washington Post (2018, 2020). She narrates stories across many topics and genres (including young adult, fantasy, sci-fi and nonfiction), and is particularly proud of the books in which she gives voice to the South Asian and black experiences.
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
How did you prepare to narrate your favorite book?
My current favorite is the Aru Shah trilogy. I just narrated the 3rd book, Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, in February. These books are incredibly fun, but very demanding. First I read through the script and marked all characters, looked up any unusual words, made notes about the themes and indicated any vocal changes I wanted to make while performing certain scenes. Then I reviewed the personalities and voices of the protagonists - although Aru, Mini, Brynn and Aiden are pretty much old friends by now, so that wasn’t too difficult! Next I tackled the other (epic) characters, which included some cranky divine birds, cryptic goddesses and a snarky serpent. I listened to portions of previous books in the series to get into the right mindset and then conjured specific images for each character. Discovering the voices came next. Sometimes I do that by physicalizing the image in my head. Sometimes the character reminds me of someone I know personally or of an archetype. I make notes on all those images and record samples of the voices I’ve created, so that those are at my fingertips when I walk into the recording studio.
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Other books narrated by Soneela:
It was so hard to choose which ones to mention! All of these are in my top 10.
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Soneela Nankani: Audiobook Narrator
Other work by Soneela:
I’m a mom of two wonderful girls (Uma, 4, and Mirai, 1).
I’m a creative professional working at the intersection of the arts, civic engagement, and social justice, focused on encouraging dialogue around stimulating and supporting a culture of inclusion in the arts and nonprofit fields.
I have also been known to work as a community dialogue facilitator, a performer, a writer and a producer.
Learn more about Soneela here:
Twitter and Instagram: @soneela
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soneela.nankani
